State Sen Rene Garcia Was Born In His Home Base Of Hialeah But He Is Also Fond Of The County State And Especially Newborns

State Sen. Rene Garcia says the Charter Review Task Force committee, which he chaired and just completed its business, was a rousing success because of the complex and numerous issues the group tackled in a short time. The task force was formed in March, didn’t meet until April 19 and held its last meeting June 26. The previous task force had 18 months to complete its work.

"We tackled a couple of big issues, one of them being incorporation and regional government that we’ve been talking about for years and really haven’t moved on," says Sen. Garcia, who formally presents the committee’s proposed amendments to the Miami-Dade commission July 17.

The District 40 Republican, whose home base is Hialeah, has a history of tackling big issues.

There was a time when single young mothers or girls who had just given birth and were in desperate straits abandoned infants just about anywhere. But in 2000 the Florida Legislature passed a law, called A Safe Haven for Newborns, that allows a mother or a father to drop off a newborn at a firehouse without penalty. Sen. Garcia was a proponent of the law who actually got involved in making sure the program got off the ground.

"After that law passed, we, the legislature, never funded it," he said. "So this gentleman by the name Nick Silverio went out and started this program… and we worked together on getting this going."